Chinese Landscape Painting Techniques for Watercolor

2 Load small amounts of midtone ink into a medium brush and dark ink
from the middle to its tip, then holding it sideways, paint the trunk and
large branches with short strokes. In this early stage, leave plenty of
white for the snow. Using a smaller brush, paint the small branches in the
same way.

3 Continue to use your brushes to paint other branches with a variety of
inks, layering dark into light. The lower portion of the trunk should be a bit
lighter since it’s in the background. Similarly, use a medium brush and
light ink to paint the background tree. The end result is similar to a
Western pencil or charcoal drawing.

EXERCISE | CHINESE PAINTING TECHNIQUE

Pine Trees With Snow

Unlike previous exercises where we use only ink, here we mix Chinese colors
and ink to depict pine trees in the Sierra Mountains. This way of painting is
called non-bone method. In this chapter, the large waterfall, mossy oak tree and
backlit trees exercises used the non-bone technique. This is a common technique
used by many modern Chinese painters.

Reference Photo

1 Load Burnt Sienna on a medium brush and then dip it in dark ink from
its tip to its middle. Hold it sideways and paint the trunk from top to
bottom. Reload the brush with more dark ink and indicate the branches,
leaving white areas for the snow.

2 Load midtone ink and Indigo on a medium brush, then dip the tip in a
little dark ink to paint the foliage with center and side strokes. Paint
continuously until you achieve dry-brush strokes that suggest needle-
shaped pine leaves. Reload the brush and continue painting foliage in
this same way, about 4 times until it’s completed. Use a small brush
loaded with Burnt Sienna and midtone ink to indicate the small trees in
the background.

3 Use a medium brush to paint the foliage in the background trees in the
same way as step 2 but with lighter ink and Indigo pigments.

4 Use a small brush to suggest the distant trees with light Indigo and light
ink. Use a medium-sized brush and light Indigo to indicate the front ridge
and the distant background trees. The foreground is watered down
Indigo, as well.

EXERCISE | CHINESE PAINTING TECHNIQUE

Backlit Trees

These beautiful, backlit pines are located in the Yosemite Valley situated against
distant granite rock mountains. When painting trees in back lighting, you can
either leave their edges or paint lightly around the edges with light pigments
while apply dark value colors in the background.

Reference Photo

1 Load yellow, Indigo and a little Vermilion on a medium brush and then
paint the base layer of the trees on a piece of raw, single-layer Shuan
while holding the brush on its side.

2 Load Burnt Sienna on a small brush, then dip the tip in light ink. Paint
the branches and trunks using the center brush technique. Load yellow
and a little Indigo on a medium brush and a touch of Burnt Sienna on its
tip, then paint the foreground with the brush on its side. To paint the
brown grass, load more Burnt Sienna on the brush, then splay the
bristles with your finger before painting.

3 Load Indigo and dark ink on a medium brush to paint background trees;
leave some light edges on the foreground trees. Use a small brush and
Burnt Sienna to call out individual grasses in the foreground. Use a large
brush to paint mountains with light Indigo and Burnt Sienna. When the
mountains are dry, load a small amount of light to midtone ink on a
medium brush to call out rock textures.

EXERCISE | CHINESE PAINTING TECHNIQUE

Colorful Fall Trees

This exercise is also done with the non-born technique by applying color first
and then a mixture of color and ink. Learn to define the trees in the foreground
by painting those behind darker. This is a typical technique used by both Chinese
painting and watercolor artists.

Reference Photo

1 On a piece of raw, single-layer Shuan, paint the base layer of the trees
with yellow, Phthalo Blue, Vermilion and Carmine using minimal side
strokes. Load Burnt Sienna then ink on a brush, and paint the foreground
and middle ground. Use a large brush to paint hills with Burn Sienna and
ink, adding Phthalo Blue to indicate the most distant mountains.

2 Load Carmine then rouge on a medium brush to paint the lower
portions of reddish orange trees. Load midtone Indigo and ink to paint the
lower parts of bluish green trees.

3 Mix Carmine with a little ink and paint the lowest portion of the reddish
yellow trees, while carving out the yellow-orange and blue-green trees in
the foreground. Load heavy Indigo and ink to paint the bottoms of the
blue-green trees in the foreground.

4 Mix rouge and ink on a small brush and paint the trunks and branches
of the red, yellow and blue-green trees in the middle ground. Load thick
white on a small brush to paint the aspen trunks and branches on the
right. Mix white with a little yellow to highlight the shrub details in the
foreground.

CHAPTER 2
Tools and Techniques for watercolor
Painting

In China I grew up without enough food, clothes and material possessions, so I
tended to make the most out of everything I had. My minimalist upbringing has
influenced both my life and way of painting. As with Chinese painting, you
don’t need fancy or pricey materials to paint successful watercolors. In fact, the
fewer materials you have, the better. All of the watercolor demonstrations in this
book have been completed with just three colors, less than ten synthetic brushes
and sometimes masking fluid.

My Watercolor Tools

You don’t need many tools for painting successful watercolors; just three colors,
some synthetic flat and round brushes, and masking fluid will do.
A small, round plastic dishes containing pigments diluted with water for color
pouring and blending B a variety of synthetic sable flat and round brushes C
mid-size spray bottle D masking fluid
E glass palette
F blue, red and yellow pigments in the tube

Paints and Brushes

PAPER
For painting watercolors in the studio, I prefer Arches 140-lb. (300gsm) cold-
pressed watercolor paper. It has a nice sizing (absorbency) and is resistant to
tearing when removing masking. For plein air, I prefer Fabriano 300-lb.
(640gsm) cold-pressed paper or Arches 300-lb. (640gsm) cold-pressed paper.
This weight of paper does not warp and is easy to handle outdoors.

PIGMENTS
I use only the three primary colors in my watercolors: blue, red and yellow. For
my palette, I select two tubes from each primary group from a variety of brands.
Paint brands and quality vary widely, so select the best you can afford and avoid
student-grade, if possible. Some paint colors that I like that many brands
manufacture are Prussian Blue (American Journey) or Antwerp Blue (Winsor &
Newton); Naphthol Red, Quinacridone Rose or Pyrrol Red (M. Graham & Co.);
Hansa Yellow Deep and Azo Yellow (M. Graham & Co.) or Arylide Yellow (Da
Vinci Artists’ Watercolors). When I begin a watercolor, I choose one pigment
from each group to use from beginning to end.

To obtain very dark, black-like colors from three pigments, simply mix a thick
amount of paint (fresh out of the tube) of blue and red, and a very small amount
of water. Light blue pigments such as Cobalt Blue or Ultramarine Blue won’t
work for the 3-color method because they can’t easily be mixed with red to make
black.

BRUSHES

For watercolor, I use synthetic sable brushes because they are pliable and easily
form points at the tip. I do not like to use Chinese brushes for watercolor because
they are too soft and retain a lot of water. Conversely, I don’t like to use
watercolor brushes for spontaneous-style painting because they cannot be loaded
with a lot of water, ink and colors. I use a variety of flat brushes and round
brushes from small to large sizes. The wedge-shaped end of a flat brush is useful
for applying masking.

PALETTE
I use a glass palette that allows me to see the colors I mix as they will appear on
paper. It has 14 wells on each side and 3 mixing areas in the center. I use the left
side for watercolor painting and the right side for Chinese painting. On the
watercolor side, I use at least two wells per color, one for mixing with other
pigments on the palette, and one for picking up pure color. This brand is called
the Bullet-Proof Glass Palette by Martin Universal Design.

MASKING FLUID
In the beginning stages of painting, use masking fluid to preserve detailed areas
during the color pouring and blending process. I prefer Pebeo drawing gum for
its light gray color, high quality and ease of use. It doesn’t matter what color of
masking fluid you use, but keep in mind that brightly colored fluid can distract
your eyes and interfere with your color perception.

When you open a new bottle of masking fluid, the solids are usually
condensed in the neck of the bottle. I use the handle of a small brush to stir the
solids back into the liquid. Don’t shake the bottle since this will create bubbles.
After applying masking fluid, replace the cap immediately. It’s not a good idea to
use masking fluid that has been opened for more than a year. Old masking fluid
is difficult to apply and remove. Worst of all, it can become permanently stuck to
the paper.

Using Watercolor Pigment

USING A LIMITED PALETTE
There are many benefits to using a limited palette. With the three primary colors
you can create many secondary colors. Also, it’s easier to achieve a dominant
color in a painting. A limited palette also helps keep the painting from becoming
muddy. For whites, I preserve the white of the paper. Sometimes I use masking
fluid to help me do this. To get dark colors, I mix undiluted blue with a little
undiluted red and a small amount of water (see below).

COLOR POURING AND BLENDING
Color pouring and blending is a wonderful technique I use in my watercolor
paintings. It is achieved by wetting the surface with a spray bottle, and pouring
diluted pigments next to each other so they follow the water and run into each
other. Spray the poured pigment with more water and use your fingers and
brushes to mix and blend. You can also tilt the watercolor paper to flow the
pigment or use your mouth to blow the paint to dry areas of the paper. Once you
are familiar with how color liquids behave and their effects under various
amounts of water, you will be able to achieve endless effects in your paintings.

Mixing Middle Values
For the pouring and blending technique, you generally want to mix a medium
value, in between a dark, thick mixture and a light, runny mixture. Here, the top
row shows fresh and thick pigment just out of the tube and diluted with very little
water—much too thick for color pouring. The middle row is diluted to a middle
value, ideal for the color pouring and blending technique. The bottom row is
diluted with a lot of water and is much too light for color pouring and blending.

Diluting Paint for Color Blending
To prepare diluted paint for pouring and blending, mix each color with clear
water in a small dish, using a separate brush to stir each color. There are two
rules of thumb for making diluted colors: first, to darken the value of a painting,
use stronger values of the blue and red mixtures. To lighten the value, use
weaker values of the blue and red mixtures. Second, never create anything
darker than a medium value of yellow or it will become muddy.

Practice Mixing Colors
Experiment with color mixing and diluting those mixtures with water to achieve
middle values. From left to right, the mixtures here are yellow and red, yellow
and blue, red and blue, and a blend of all three mixtures.

Applying Masking Fluid

Masking With Fingers
I use my fingers to apply masking fluid to large areas.

Masking With Brush Handle
Use the end of a brush handle to create small branches and grasses with
masking fluid.

Removing Masking
Apply 2-inch (5cm) pieces of tape to the masking and peel the tape up to remove
the masking.

EXERCISE | WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

Color Pouring and Blending

Masking is a watercolor technique used to preserve areas to later uncover. In this
exercise, we use masking fluid to save the snows from contamination while
executing the color pouring and blending technique.

Reference Photo: Snowy Trees in the Rocky Mountains

1 On watercolor paper, sketch the landscape with a no. 2 pencil. Use the
wedge-shaped tip of a 1⁄4-inch (6mm) brush’s handle to apply masking
fluid blocking out the snow on the foliage, branches, trunks and large log.
To block the large snow area in the foreground, pour masking liquid
directly on the page and use your fingers to spread it out. You can also
use masking tape to block the large areas, saving time and fluid.

2 Using a medium-sized spray bottle, wet the left side of the paper a few
times, then drop a variety of liquid paints at the root area of the fallen
tree. Use a different brush for each color to keep the pigments from
mixing.

3 Spray the paints a few more times to encourage them to mix and blend
together.

4 Use your fingers to guide the paint, dragging the liquid paint to indicate
the trees and branches. The masking fluid and tape is keeping any color
from hitting the paper that will be snow.

5 When the paper is about halfway dry, use a 1⁄4-inch (6mm) brush to
paint the trunks and a no. 4 round to paint the branches with red and blue
in thin, even strokes.

6 When the painting is dry, remove the dried masking with packing or
masking tape. Cut the tape into pieces about 2 inches (5cm) long and
press the adhesive side on the dry masking. Carefully drag to peel it off
from the paper. Simply use your fingers to pull off the masking tape
covering the snow areas.

7 Use a no. 4 round brush to paint light to medium blue on the lower
foreground, as well as the snow on the foliage, branches and large fallen
log. Use the same brush to add details on the log with mixtures of dark
blue and red. Use a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) brush to suggest creases in the
foreground snow with light blue and a few strokes. While this area is wet,
dip a no. 8 brush in a little water and softly blend the upper edges of the
creases with the nearby snow.

EXERCISE | WATERCOLOR TECHNIQUE

Mixing Colors on Paper

Mixing pigments on the palette then applying is a common watercolor technique,
but can lead to muddy results when overmixed. By allowing the colors to mix
directly on the paper you can create beautiful, unintentional results. Before
pouring on pigment, it is helpful to mask out your main subjects for adding
detail later. Let’s practice.

Reference Photo: Lower Eagle Falls at South Lake Tahoe



1 On 140-lb. (300gsm) cold-pressed watercolor paper, sketch the
landscape with a no. 2 pencil. I moved the large tree at left closer to the
big rock at the upper right for better composition. Use the wedge end of a
1⁄4-inch (6mm) brush to apply masking fluid for blocking water and a few
branches.



2 After the masking fluid dries, use a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) brush to apply light
to medium blue on the sky, trees and rocks.



3 Immediately use the same brush to apply yellow on the trees and
rocks. It will mix with the blue to turn a nice yellowish green. Use a no. 4
round to paint the tree trunks at the top of the paper with a light to
medium red. The red will mix with the blue and yellow to create a nice
brown tone.



4 While the yellow waterfall area is still wet, use a 3⁄4-inch (19mm) brush
to apply midtone to dark red followed by a midtone to dark blue. Allow
them to mix together, creating beautiful rock colorations.



5 Using the same brush, tone down the reds to achieve darker rocks by
adding a thick amount of blue pigment while the area is wet. Use a no. 8
round to apply a little more blue to the tree’s foliage, painting around the
trunks.



6 Create a thick light-toned mixture of blue and red on your palette with a
no. 4 round and paint the shaded sides of the upper rocks. Next render
some texture on the falling water by using a no. 8 round and light blue
followed by light red in a variety of strokes.